Household Water Coping Behaviour and Costs in the Volta Basin of Ghana

Ghana is abundant in water resources but frequently experiences seasonal and periodic water scarcities. Households therefore adopt coping strategies and various activities to ensure continuous flow of adequate safe water at the household level. These strategies involve opportunity costs and some amount of financial outlay. Using revealed preference data for 20 randomly selected rural communities in the Volta basin of Ghana this paper employs the coping costs approach to derive the costs of coping with water insecurity. Explicit costs in the form of investments in water storage facilities and costs of water treatment are estimated. Implicit costs (opportunity cost of time) associated with water collection, which varies by season and ecological zone, is valued using the average basic hourly wage of rural women engaged in agriculture. The results of the study show that costs of coping with water insecurity are higher in the dry season and for forest ecology households. The often-stated claim that rural households cannot and should not pay for the full cost of water delivery is not supported by this study. The paper concludes that rural consumers are paying at least as much as their urban consumers for unimproved water. Hence, this paper is of the view that rural consumers have the ability to pay for improved water but may not be willing to do so probably due to their perceptions and attitudes concerning the public good nature and benefits of improved water supply.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Woodfuel Use In Ghana: Its Nature And Impact At The Village Level

The thesis is an examination of the woodfuel energy situation in rural Ghana. Despite the high degree of woodfuel dependency, which may perpetuate a near-subsistence level of economic development and potential degradation of the environment, there is a lack of detailed information at the critical use levels of the farm village and its household units upon which to assess the situation and as a basis for energy planning. This thesis attempts to combine the need for detailed data acquisition and the need to describe and explain the actual woodfuel situation. The field study covered households in three villages in Eastern Ghana based on methods which included measurement, weighing, interviewing, observation, and diary keeping. Data was collected over a period of 10 months.;The basic data confirmed the overall level of dependence on woodfuel for virtually all energy requirements. However, whereas all three villages were broadly similar as to woodfuel use, there were important distinctions between them as to quantity and quality used and, especially, the local availability and sectors of use. Based on initial data presentation, further analysis was undertaken of a wide range of household variables using both univariate and multivariate analytic techniques. Although some postulated variable relationships were confirmed, the overall situation was found to involve a number of critical variables whose significance varied somewhat between villages and in relation to sources and uses of woodfuel. The underlying nature of the ecosystem and its overt reflection in terms of the farming system are strong determinants of woodfuel supply in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Potentially, the most critical impacts of woodfuel use are those of an ecological nature--the loss and/or degradation of the natural vegetation. While the situation is not yet critical in terms of depletion, evidence suggested widespread degradation, especially in the two villages in the drier forest zones. The socio-economic impacts are more varied, including time and physical efforts spent collecting, as well as the actual and potential problems of development in a constrained energy situation.;The conclusion to the study stresses the complex nature of the woodfuel situation even at the relatively homogeneous farm village household level. Given this complexity and the level of dependency on woodfuel that will likely continue, energy planning must be undertaken at the rural village level, based on detailed acquisition and use of information

Has Imported Rice Crowded-out Domestic Rice Production in Ghana? What has Been the Role of Policy?

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country. On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice productionGhana, market integration Policy, Rice, Production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Assessing Rural Women Food Producers Capacity to Adopt Modern ICTs – A case Study of the Mfantsiman District of Ghana

The traditional way of information dissemination has been through people; the modern way is through the electronic media – improved information and communication technologies (ICTs). For effectiveness, modern ICTs should help women to improve on their income generating capacity. Issues of level of resource capacity of women, information needed, and current sources of such information become important. This study sought to investigate the issues above with respect to rural women food producers in the Mfantsiman District of Ghana. Simple descriptive statistics and econometric models were employed in the data analysis of 91 randomly selected respondents. The results of the study showed that: In general, the women food producers were aged, subsistence food crop farmers. They depended on the natural rainfall cycle and had inadequate funds, so they use traditional inputs for production and sell surpluses in the community. The most important agricultural information needed was on inputs, specifically, low cost in-kind or cash credit. Currently, the major information sources are relatives and other farmers in the locality, agricultural extension agents, the radio and television. This suggests that the women food producers have low resource capacity and this could limit the adoption of modern ICTs as a source of and media for information dissemination. Yet, the regression results show that the few (6) mobile phone users have a higher income generating capacity. In order to improve on capacity to use modern ICTs for increased access to other resources, women farmers’ should organize themselves into formidable groups so local institutions can assist easily.Adoption, Information and communication Technology, Ghana, Women, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Effects of Food Price Increaseson UrbanHouseholdFood Commodities Expenditures in Ghana

The paper analyses the elasticities of urban food demand using household survey data. Expenditure endogeneity and truncated expenditures were controlled in the estimation process using the “Augmented Regression Approach” and Heckman two-stage procedure respectively. Household demographic characteristics such as household size, education, sex, and age of household head have significant influences on food expenditures by urban households. The marginal expenditure shares show that cereals and bread,roots and tubers, fish and vegetables will continue to constitute important share of Ghanaian urban food expenditure as they collectively constitute about 78% of future food expenditure.The study finds that urbanisation generally presents market opportunities for Ghana’s local economy, and this potential can fully be exploited if appropriate agricultural policy is focused on increasing food production rather than guaranteed prices. Key words: Ghana, Urban, LAIDS, Demand, Food, Elasticitie

An Empirical Analysis of the Incidence of Corporate Income Tax in Ghana (1997-2006)

The corporate income tax is levied on earnings at the corporate level and shareholders pay taxes again on these earnings when they are paid out as dividends. This double taxation has been a concern of policy makers and its effects on economies have been analyzed and discussed by researchers in many disciplines. This study uses a financial statement data from ten (10) manufacturing companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange over a ten year period spanning from 1997 to 2006. The simple ordinary least squares regression is used for models representing each of the three players over time. The results showed a negative relationship between returns to shareholders and the tax, indicating that returns decrease when the tax increases. The results also showed a negative relationship between the cost of labour and the tax, indicating that an increase in the tax will lead to a decrease in the cost of labour (wages).  Finally, the results showed a significant positive relationship between the gross profit percentage and the tax; indicating that consumer prices may increase in relation to an increase in the tax rate. Key words: Corporate Income Tax, Incidence of tax, Regression analysis, Ghan

VARIATIONS IN METADISCOURSE USE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW THESIS CHAPTERS

Studies have established that thesis chapters are both similar and dissimilar with respect to their rhetorical choices. This paper examined metadiscourse use in the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters of English Language theses from a nonnative context. The Introduction and LR chapters of ten theses, resulting in 50, 000 and 100, 500 words respectively, constituted the data sets for this study. Drawing on Hyland’s metadiscourse model, we manually coded all the metadiscursive elements. The study reveals statistically significant differences across all the interactive and interactional subcategories, affirming the stance that the rhetorical function of a thesis chapter influences its metadiscoursal choices. The study also found a new subcategory of meta-discoursal category labeled continuants. The paper has implications for the teaching and supervision of postgraduate theses, and the theory of metadiscourse

Corporate Governance Structure and Insurance Companies’ Performance in Ghana

The study seeks to explore the relationship between internal corporate governance structures and the performance of insurance companies. Adopting a descriptive study approach, a random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 200, comprising 150 customers and 50 staff from the five insurance companies within the Kumasi Metropolis for them to respond to structured questionnaires. The study found out that corporate governance is essential in every corporate body, ensuring smooth operations of the firms and also ensures transparency of the day to day activities of the firms in order to build up confidence in stakeholders of the firms. However, firms tend to be affected mainly by the interference of government decision and the abrupt change in direction of the firms when there is a change in government. It is therefore recommended that, the firms adopt fair practices that would ensure that the corporate governance framework would protect and facilitate the exercise of shareholders' rights. It is also recommended that the BOD should ensure the provision of strategic guidance of the firm, effective monitoring of management, and the board’s accountability to the firm and the shareholders so as to improve its performance. Keywords: Corporate Governance Structure, Corporate Governance, Insurance Companies, Ghana

Compressive Strength of Concrete Using Different Curing Methods

The structural use of concrete depends largely on its strength, especially compressive strength.Various tests were carried out to ascertain the properties of concrete materials, whereas test performances ofthe concrete with different mix ratios at specific ages of curing were undertaken. The study determined thecompressive strength of concrete using different curing methods. Four different methods of curing (ponding,continuous wetting, open-air curing and sprinkling with water) were used. Seventy-two (72) cubes were castusing a mix ratio of 1:2:4 and 1:3:6 with 0.5 water cement ratio and with 0.6 waters cement ratio respectively.The compressive strengths were determined after 7 days, 14 days and at 28 days of curing. Findings showthat for 1:2:4 concrete, maximum of 28-day compressive was the highest for concrete cured by ponding andthe least was by sprinkling water. Further findings show that for 1:3:6 concrete, maximum of 28-daycompressive strength was obtained using ponding and the least was open air curing. Despite ponding methodproducing the highest compressive strength of concrete, it is practically impossible to cure cubes aboveground structural elements. Wet-covering method is recommended for structural elements, such as columns,beams and slabs in other to produce concreteof a required compressive strength

Assessing the Role of Outsourcing in a Financial Institution: The Case of Prudential Bank Limited (Ghana).

Outsourcing has been growing both domestically and internationally in recent years. Contemporary highly competitive business environment today acts as strong stimulus for firms to go outsourcing. In addition, economic globalization facilitates the process of looking for opportunities on the global market to outsource some of the firm’s activities instead of performing them on their own. However, there are challenges associated with the practice. Methodology used was questionnaires, interviews and observations to collect data for the research work. Interestingly, certain findings were discovered which include benefits and challenges faced by the bank in outsourcing some of their activities. Some of these challenges were known to be quality problems; inability to nurture-in-house talent, poor supplier selection, high cost, loss of managerial control, failure to conduct outsourcing exercise, lack of proper planning and understanding the core activities from non-core activities. The assessment and evaluation of the findings clearly identified that Prudential Bank Limited outsources its non- core activities and its benefit can be seen in obtaining improved performance, cost savings, access to world class capabilities, accelerated re-engineering benefits, shared risks, free resources for other purposes, improve quality of service and adequate time for management. The study also further identified some of the non-core activities outsourced as security services, catering services, front desk staff, fuel usage and cash picks and species. The research was concluded with the statement that notwithstanding the challenges, outsourcing plays an important role at Prudential Bank limited, since it enables the organisation to enjoy a lot of benefits and also concentrate on their core activities. Keywords: Outsourcing, Financial Institution, Core and Non-Core